The Good Sample-CD List

[XHipHop]

I've bought so many terrible sample cds lately...sounds that don't resemble anything you'd want to hear in a track.

One that I did buy that was amazing, though, was Emagic's Extreme HipHop set for the EXS sampler. It might be out of print now that apple bougth them, but if you can get it, by all means take a chance. I paid $15 I think. Enough useful one-hit drums to keep me happy for a long time not to mention cool guitar licks, electic piano stabs, random vinyl hits, and tons of scratches by the executioners.

So...any others out there that are woth checking out? I can always use some new sounds...

[defjamm]

Originally Posted by XHipHop

One that I did buy that was amazing, though, was Emagic's Extreme HipHop set

yes that one is really nice, wasn't it produced by some well known rap-producers?

for bass i like spectrasonics trilogy, all kind of great basses in an easy to use interface.

for drums and percussion:
www.modernbeats.com
www.p5audio.com
http://www.hiphopdrums.com/index.html

their ads are fishy but the sounds are very usable.

[nukmusic]

www.beatsbymail.com

[TonyBelmont]

Drums wise.... I've been searching for years and still haven't found anything worth using. I have had dozens that I have never even used one sound from. Most don't even get past the browsing through stage. I would prefer a crate of records from the Salvation Army at 25 cents/ each.

[strauss]

Stuff like this is a good place to start for sampling ingredients.

[XHipHop]

Originally Posted by strauss

Stuff like this is a good place to start for sampling ingredients.

Do those things play on my ipod? Just kidding :)

[digiman]

Before you go buying all that plastic, you may just want to go back and listen to what you already have in your CD collection. You'd be surprised if you went back and just listened to some of these what you'll find by way of open snares and kicks that are already mixed and mastered just waiting on you to lift.

[littledoodler]

www.drumdrops.com

[Charlie-O]

I have about three hundred sample cds, and to be honest I end up using a sound here a sound there. They sound better than most keyboards though, lately I have really been liking the VSL horizon series. There stuff sounds fantastic. And if your lifting from vinyl, XXl No kick 1 and 2 have some cool kicks o layer behind your filth.

Happy stacking!

[TonyBelmont]

The VSL stuff is good. I wouldn't call any of it a sample CD though. They are sample libraries, with DVD's packed with mapped out symphonic instruments for EXS24, GigaStudio, HALion, or Kontakt. I have the GPO and the EWQL Gold Edition and I like them. Good stuff.

[butterfly]

The new school rb , it's by e-labs in Sweden. Good kiks, snares and hats but to be honest I would never use licks or hooks from a sample cd, that's just plain uncreative.

[kwilliams]

Originally Posted by TonyBelmont

Drums wise.... I've been searching for years and still haven't found anything worth using. I have had dozens that I have never even used one sound from. Most don't even get past the browsing through stage. I would prefer a crate of records from the Salvation Army at 25 cents/ each.

Damn right!!! old records....A lot of the so called 'hiphop' collections are put together by sound designers who aren't really active as producers in the rap game so their sounds aren't really up to par. I mean if you got it like that odds are those sounds will be used in some production you're working on or contributed to some records being cut in the industry. Not to diss anyone out there but if you're drums are on point and bang as hard as some of the top producers you're probably cutting records not putting together the next 'dope drums from that gutta' wannabee hiphop collection !! Having said that this statement is based on what I've heard in the past so I stand to be corrected!!!

[Red_venom]

I find the best discs are the ones not aimed at hip hop at all. Particularly ones aimed at live accompaniment. Like jazz loops or latin loops for a guitar player with no band. That said the only discs I have ever found useful are...

Ueberschall - Brazil Electro. Lots of good perc sounds, some bad too though.

Loopmasters - Chillout Lounge - I believe that's the title. It has some decent chord-pad multis and bassline loops but the highlight of the disc to me is the drums which are fantastic. It has like some of the best recorded conga and bongo and shakere loops I have heard and pretty decent drums that kinda have a triphop vibe but very well recorded and perfect for use in Recycle.

Native Instruments Studio Drums for Battery were pretty good as well for my needs.

I think most sample CD's miss the point entirely though. It's sad how bad some of them are. Almost every disc aimed directly at hip hop/rap/RnB production has been a travesty.

Best to just stick to the big multisample libraries(VSL, Scarbee, etc) for quality instrument stuff and get percussion wherever you can. Or even record your own.

[Ijustmake-Beats]

After hearing all the bad reports about hip-hop sample CD's, and after hearing demos to backup those reports, I've never been game to put money into 'em. If you're into stacking sounds though I'd recommend any high quality sample CD with real drum sounds. With a little layering and processing they can sound fantastic, afterall more than half of all hip-hop drums are just recordings of processed 'real' drum sounds. If you have an SP-1200 or any 12-bit sampler then even better.

[kennyd03]

Originally Posted by Red_venom

I think most sample CD's miss the point entirely though. It's sad how bad some of them are. Almost every disc aimed directly at hip hop/rap/RnB production has been a travesty.

Best to just stick to the big multisample libraries(VSL, Scarbee, etc) for quality instrument stuff and get percussion wherever you can. Or even record your own.

I've been frustrated with this for years. So much so that I made my own library!

I think that recording your own samples and/or finding them from obscure sources can be a huge factor in your success as a producer - it gives you a stylized sound that is unique from anyone else.

One tip I got a few years back was to always "sample" any drum kit that you are recording in a session. I have the drummer hit each drum and cymbal a couple of times at a few different dynamic levels. It usually takes only a few minutes during a session, and after a while, you will have built up a decent-sized, one-of a-kind, sample library.

-Kenny D

[Curve Dominant]

Originally Posted by Ijustmake-Beats

After hearing all the bad reports about hip-hop sample CD's, and after hearing demos to backup those reports, I've never been game to put money into 'em. If you're into stacking sounds though I'd recommend any high quality sample CD with real drum sounds. With a little layering and processing they can sound fantastic, afterall more than half of all hip-hop drums are just recordings of processed 'real' drum sounds.

Great suggestion.

Taking "real" hits, and blending them with compressed, overdriven and oscillated versions of "real" hits is an artform one can get really creative with.

[beatzz]

Hey curve could i bother you to be more specific with the "oscillated" side of things.

I don't know exactly what that means.

How would i do that to one of my drum hits? What plugin's would you use.

[Methlab]

Originally Posted by beatzz

Hey curve could i bother you to be more specific with the "oscillated" side of things.

I don't know exactly what that means.

How would i do that to one of my drum hits? What plugin's would you use.

I have been chopping up breaks and shoving them though Camelphat lately..after about 10 minutes of serious tweaking, I get The sound I want. Then I put it last in the chain, run a rencomp set at about 2:1 and a q10 EQ followed by the Camel, and Im in business.